Yesterday we purchased a 2 yr old Toyota RAV4, from an Arnold Clark Garage. We are happy with the car but the problem is that it is NOT recognised as a car that exists!

ALL the insurance companies only recognise it as a 4WD when it is, in fact, a 2WD, so at present no one will insure it. Toyota say they have never had this problem before, which I don’t believe and can only assume that people have not realised they have invalid insurance. Even Toyota insurance wont insure us at this point!

Surely it has to be illegal for a car dealership to sell us an uninsurable car? Any advice appreciated please.

Hi Sara. That sounds bizarre. Unless the car is a private import rather than a UK-specification model, it is almost impossible to believe that a perfectly normal like a RAV4 would not be insurable.

The first thing I would check is that the vehicle description is actually correct and that the car is definitely the specification that the dealer told you. Arnold Clark does not have the best reputation, so it’s entirely possible they’ve told you it’s a 2WD car when it is actually 4WD…

If there’s any confusion about the vehicle specification, take it to a Toyota dealer to verify the exact model and specification. There may be a mix-up in the insurance/DVLA database, where the car’s details have been entered incorrectly. If you enter the specification rather than the registration number, it may solve the issue. If that’s the case, you can hopefully work with the insurance company or DVLA to get the registration details corrected.